Comments on: Counting Pageviews: 1, 2, 8, 15 http://www.markevanstech.com/2007/10/22/counting-pageviews-1-2-8-15/ Insight and Analysis from North of the Border Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:12:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Phil Phillipuk http://www.markevanstech.com/2007/10/22/counting-pageviews-1-2-8-15/#comment-8356 Phil Phillipuk Mon, 22 Oct 2007 16:21:34 +0000 http://markevanstech.com/2007/10/22/counting-pageviews-1-2-8-15/#comment-8356 I'm a web analyst for a major financial services firm. Using state-of-the-art software, provided by the leading web analytics vendor, I monitor traffic flows through several web sites maintained by my company. My goal is to study the online experience, in order to improve it, within the context of our business model and overall company strategies. This is done using quantitative (web analytics) and qualitative analysis (market research, usability testing, etc.). I've been a web analyst since the late 1990's, and this article seems almost as dated. Web analytics, as a discipline, has evolved several times over, since web server log files were first used to track traffic, in the mid-1990's. The latest technology, commonly called "page tagging," is infinitely more accurate, and is customizable for capturing true business metrics. Further, there is a Web Analytics Association who is educating organizations in, lobbying for, and standardizing the collection and use of key performance indicators for the web. The most basic metrics are the Unique User, the Visit, and the Page View. No one in this growing industry disputes this, and the data collection methodologies used by the leading web analytics vendors, varies slightly, if at all. The disparities between the vendors' products lie mainly in their delivery methods. The web world, especially advertisers and those who directly rely on web sites for revenue, would all best be served if they abandoned the arbitrary standard set by the NetRatings and ComScores of the world. Their rating (and business) models are sorely outdated, and do not meet the measurement demands of the "web 2.0," world. I’m a web analyst for a major financial services firm. Using state-of-the-art software, provided by the leading web analytics vendor, I monitor traffic flows through several web sites maintained by my company. My goal is to study the online experience, in order to improve it, within the context of our business model and overall company strategies. This is done using quantitative (web analytics) and qualitative analysis (market research, usability testing, etc.).

I’ve been a web analyst since the late 1990’s, and this article seems almost as dated. Web analytics, as a discipline, has evolved several times over, since web server log files were first used to track traffic, in the mid-1990’s. The latest technology, commonly called “page tagging,” is infinitely more accurate, and is customizable for capturing true business metrics.

Further, there is a Web Analytics Association who is educating organizations in, lobbying for, and standardizing the collection and use of key performance indicators for the web. The most basic metrics are the Unique User, the Visit, and the Page View. No one in this growing industry disputes this, and the data collection methodologies used by the leading web analytics vendors, varies slightly, if at all. The disparities between the vendors’ products lie mainly in their delivery methods.

The web world, especially advertisers and those who directly rely on web sites for revenue, would all best be served if they abandoned the arbitrary standard set by the NetRatings and ComScores of the world. Their rating (and business) models are sorely outdated, and do not meet the measurement demands of the “web 2.0,” world.

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